Miss Newborn Adeline

This is our baby girl at 4 days old.  She's now 8 weeks old and 5 pounds heavier, crazy!

I wish time would slow down just a wee bit.  

Here are just a few of my many favorites:)

 

 

 These wonderful photos were taken by Suzy Wigstadt.

Good and Bad

I was just driving in my car and started thanking God for all the blessings in our life and then I felt God ask me, “Would you be praising me if you were going through hard times as well?”

Of course my immediate answer was, “Yes, of course, I’ll always praise you!”

Then, I started thinking…

"Would I?"

It’s so easy to be a Christian when things are going the “right” way.  We have an income, a roof over our heads, our health, food, clothing, friends and family.  Things are hunky dory right now.

But what if tomorrow Derek lost his job?  Would I say, “Thank you God!”?  Probably not…

My praise shouldn’t depend on how my life is going, there are always going to be struggles and obstacles.

I don’t think God looks at me when I’m struggling and says, “She is definitely not my child, not today.”  Or looks at me when I’m doing well and says, “Yep, that’s my kid!”

He LOVES me no matter what, how amazing!

So instead of sometimes complaining about different struggles and obstacles, I should be praising and thanking Him for other blessings in my life, because I love Him no matter what and I completely trust Him.

I’m so thankful to have a relationship with a God who loves me in good times and bad.  I want to do the same for Him.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Blooming Inspiration

Not that I have time to be crafting, but I try to do some here and there because it's fun for me (keeps me sane, ha:).

My recent creations are some flower headbands and clips.  I first started because I wanted some for Adeline's newborn pics, then I just thought they were so cute, I wanted to try some other styles.

I'm doing a giveaway and guest post on another blog next week, I'll keep you posted, but I'll be giving away some of my headbands, so don't miss it!  I'm super excited!

So I am not a photographer, please go easy on the pics, hopefully they're good enough to get an idea of what they look like:)

Now I thought I'd show you some in action.  I think they look so much better on an actual head...maybe not my head...

Could she be any cuter!?!?

Hakan put this on all by himself, so sweet:)

These wonderful photos of Adeline at 4 days old below were taken by the lovely and talented Suzy Wigstadt.

I will do another post on Adeline's newborn pics and Hakan's two year pics:)  She's grown so much in just eight weeks!!

Best. Waffles. Ever.

This is our favorite cookbook. 

 There are so many delicious and easy recipes.  They're definitely not just for guys either, but I love the idea of my kids being able to cook for themselves someday.  Plus, I LOVE the title and all the pictures...I've even thought about tearing them out and hanging them in my kitchen, luckily we don't have room to hang them:)

This is my all time favorite waffle recipe I've ever tried, Sour Cream Waffles, so good!  I know sour cream might seem weird, but trust me, this will be your go to waffle.  Just look at the picture! We usually make them more for supper than breakfast, breakfast for dinner, it's how we roll:)  If you can't read the microscopic recipe from the picture, go here for it.

I promise you, you won't regret it...Hakan ate two whole ones.

Curious Bug

 I caught a grasshopper in a jar that somehow got on the inside of our screen.  My curious little Hakan loved it!  It kept jumping and then he would drop the jar scared and then laugh:)

Poor grasshopper.

 He was fascinated by the bumble bees at the park.  He got soaked at the splash pad, hence no clothes:)

 I LOVE just watching him explore and discover new things.

My little nature boy!

fishie fishie

Today we skipped Hakan's nap to go to a pool party with some friends.  Totally worth it (even with a few melt downs). We had a great time!  Delicious food and awesome company.

Derek and I both think it's important for our kids to be comfortable with the water and eventually learn how to swim, an invaluable ability.  We were both swimmers, me on a team for 9 years and him as a 5yr old:) and then a life guard through high school and part of college.

So Hakan was in the water all afternoon and by the end he was able to swim to Derek.  He won't be doing laps anytime soon, but he can swim!!!  I am one proud mama:)  And as a proud mama I took like 10 videos, excessive?  Not for my little fish:)

So here's my baby.

The guys are playing a made up game called "Tee" in the background.  Probably one of the funniest things to watch ever.  They put golf tees on the bottom of the pool and then they start to float up and when you see one you yell "tee" and then jump in and try to grab it, hilarious!

Post Baby

At my 6 week check up I was 4 lbs under what I was when I got pregnant with Adeline, yay...

However, I really didn't gain very much with her and I'm burning an extra 500 calories a day breastfeeding and after I have babies, my body craves healthy foods, awesome I know, just wish it would last:)  I also think that with two kiddos, I don't have as much time to just sit and eat, so I don't eat as much.

I wish being 4 lbs less also meant I could get my body shape back, ha!  Never.

I also need to be careful that I'm eating enough calories in a day to keep my milk supply up.  With Hakan, I barely made enough to get by.  This time around, I'm eating oatmeal every morning for breakfast, which I think is really helping.

 

I wasn't a huge fan of oatmeal, so making it myself tasted better than the instant Quaker packets.   But then we discovered Better Oats.  They're instant packets too, but sooooo delicious!  You can even use the packet to measure the water, genius!  It also has flax seed to get some healthy omega-3, great for Adeline too:) 

These two are my faves!!  There's real chocolate in the Lavish one and real blueberries in the other one. They have a lot of different flavors to choose from.

 

You can get them at Target and Walmart.